Biogen CELIA topline readout in Alzheimer’s ‘historic,’ says H.C. Wainwright

H.C. Wainwright views Biogen’s (BIIB) CELIA topline results as “historic,” noting that diranersen is the first tau-targeting therapy to demonstrate both replicable tau pathology reduction and directional cognitive benefit across all doses in a randomized Phase 2 study. The firm is “not surprised” by the missed primary endpoint given the study was “probably not powered that strictly given its Phase 2,” but it “more importantly” thinks biologically coherent inverted-U pharmacology to be “much more of a convincing dataset” supporting the mechanism of action of the drug. The firm, which adds that CELIA validates MAPT field-wide, sees positive readthroughs to Denali Therapeutics (DNLI), Alector (ALEC), Prothena (PRTA) and Dyne Therapeutics (DYN). H.C. Wainwright keeps a Buy rating and $237 price target on Biogen shares.